In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Hongrun also got up early because he was going to the Ministry of Civil Affairs today to meet up with Xu Rong, the minister of Dali Temple, and Chu Shuli, the minister of Daliang Mansion.
When he and the sect guards went out, the group unexpectedly discovered that the newly recruited guest in the mansion, Wen Qi, was standing near the gate of the mansion for some reason.
"Mr. Wen, what are you doing here?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.
"Your Highness." Wen Qi bowed his hands to Zhao Hongrun first, and then said seriously: "Yesterday, Your Highness recruited Wen as a retainer. As the saying goes, no merit will be rewarded. Since I have received His Highness's salary, I shall consider myself Your Highness."
To solve problems." After that, he added: "I know that Your Highness is going to the Ministry of Civil Affairs today. Although I don't know much about investigating criminal cases, I think I can serve as a follower for Your Highness. I also ask Your Highness to take care of you.
Let's go together, maybe I can do my best."
It must be said that Wen Qi's words were very beautiful. Unfortunately, Zhao Hongrun and the clan guards behind him were not fooled, and they all showed weird smiles.
Mu Qing even ignored Wen Qi's face and revealed the truth with a smile: "Mr. Wen, does that little girl Lu'er really scare you so much?"
"Haha..." Wen Qi's eyes twitched twice, but he didn't dare to say anything.
After all, yesterday, Lu'er pointed at his nose and scolded him in front of Zhao Hongrun. The scolding once again made him speechless. He patted his chest and said, Wen Qi has never seen such a cruel woman.
Although it was a bit embarrassing, Wenqi had to admit that he, who had been very venomous in the past, was no match for that little girl.
What made him even more embarrassed was that because Lu'er was born in the city and grew up in a fireworks alley like Yifang Waterside Pavilion, the words that sometimes popped out of her mouth really made Wen Qi blush and feel frightened.
It's not that Wenqi is a young man. In fact, he used to go to Fangshui Pavilion and drink flower wine in the willow alley. After all, he is still a scholar who has a good face, so some dirty words can't be said at all, so that he is ignored by Lu'er.
Cursing and being tongue-tied.
"To be so frightened by a little girl, you have gained so much height in vain. Look at our Highness, even though he has not grown much..."
Mu Qing, who said this without any hesitation, did not notice that the other clan guards walked away from him in a tacit understanding and drew a clear line with him.
"Mu Qing, what's wrong with my height?" Zhao Hongrun turned around with a smile. Although there was a thick smile on his face, Mu Qing's whole body trembled unnaturally. He swallowed and said: "
The humble position means that His Highness is just the right size...not, uh..."
"Run to the Ministry of Civil Affairs." Zhao Hongrun said expressionlessly.
Mu Qing's face collapsed when he heard this. Under the sympathetic gazes of the Zongwei brothers, who shook their heads and sighed, he was about to cry without tears: "Your Highness, the palace is quite far away from the Ministry of Rites, and people will be killed..."
"Let's talk about running to death."
"Yes... let me take the first step." With a sad face, Mu Qing opened his legs and ran towards the distance.
"I really can't learn well..."
"I bet he did it on purpose..."
"Is there any benefit?"
"I don't know if there are any benefits. Anyway, if this continues, sooner or later that boy will be demoted by His Highness to pick up horse manure in the Youma Army."
All the sect guards were discussing in low voices as if they were gloating over the misfortune.
By now, many people know that height is a taboo for a certain King Su, but some of the clan guards, some of whom are seeking death, insist on not opening and lifting any pot.
Although this can be regarded as some kind of amusing banter between master and servant, those who violate this taboo often end up quite miserable.
"The relationship between His Highness and several Lord Zongwei is really good. They seem like masters and servants, but in fact they are like brothers..."
As a bystander, Wen Qi seemed to be able to clearly feel the bond between Zhao Hongrun and the Zongwei, which made him very envious. After all, he could be said to be alone in Daliang.
After hearing Wen Qi's words, Zhao Hongrun smiled slightly. After all, Wen Qi was right. In a sense, the Zongwei were the brothers and sisters of princes like him, confidants who could be honest with each other and never leave him.
As if he saw something, Zhao Hongrun said softly: "Mr. Wen can also trust me. Of course, I will also trust Mr. Wen..."
Wen Qi was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything. Maybe he hadn't decided yet whether he wanted to truly serve His Highness Prince Su in front of him.
After all, contemporary scholars pay attention to sticking to one thing and ending with the other, and the idea of being loyal to ministers and not serving two masters has a great influence on them.
As for defecting to King Su, this choice has certain limitations.
For example, if Wen Qi really becomes Zhao Hongrun's staff, it means that his career path will be restricted: the Ministry of Personnel will definitely have no chance, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War will probably not want him, and the Ministry of Punishment may still have a chance.
After counting, only the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Industry, and the Metallurgical Bureau were left, which were the government offices that had good relations with King Su.
The most embarrassing part is that Zhao Hongrun has no intention of competing for the throne. Therefore, to put it harshly, if the new monarch of Wei State has a conflict with this King Su in the future, if this King Su cannot gain a foothold in Daliang, as an aide,
Wen Qi could only follow Zhao Hongrun to Shangshui County, almost cutting off his path to serving as a courtier.
This is the reason why few aspiring students are willing to seek refuge with Zhao Hongrun, the most popular Prince Su at the moment - no one knows what the current powerful Prince Su will be like in ten years.
However, this is not the reason for Wen Qi. After all, he disrupted the order of the examination room a while ago and offended too many officials in the DPRK and China. Therefore, even if the court allows him to take the exam again in the future regardless of the previous grudges, and Wen Qi achieves excellent results in the examination, he may
It is also impossible to serve as a capital official. He will most likely be overrun by officials who have had grievances with him. If he is lucky, he will become a county magistrate with real power. If he is not lucky, he will be transferred to a county like Zhengcheng where there are many nobles. He will be a dignified county magistrate.
, maybe just an empty puppet.
Therefore, Wen Qi was no longer very enthusiastic about official career. What he cared about was Zhao Hongrun's character and ambition.
The former is very important, the latter is even more important - who wants to follow a leader who has no ambition?
Therefore, Wen Qi did not respond to Zhao Hongrun's hint. He wanted to see it again.
Seeing that Wen Qi didn't answer, Zhao Hongrun didn't care. After all, things last forever, so why rush?
After the carriage drove for about a quarter of an hour, Zhao Hongrun and others arrived at the main office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
After getting off the carriage, Zhao Hongrun found that outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there were guards everywhere, and he even saw a group of patrolling guards.
If nothing else, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the government offices have been put under surveillance, and the only person with the authority to do this is the official in charge of the case, Dali Temple Qingzheng Xu Rong.
Just when Zhao Hongrun introduced several important points of the case to Wen Qi, Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao went straight to the leaders of the soldiers and negotiated with them. In the name of "Prince Su" and "Inspector",
Obtained the general qualification.
After leading Wen Qi and others out of the Ministry of Personnel Office, Zhao Hongrun found that although the house was full of soldiers and guards, it did not seem to affect the daily work of the officials of the Ministry of Personnel.
Of course, it was inevitable that some of them would point at the soldiers and guards, with worried looks on their faces.
"You deserve it!" Wen Qi sneered and cursed in a low voice, with a faint look of joy on his face.
It's no wonder. After all, he failed the examination three years ago because of the interference of officials from the Ministry of Personnel. If Wen Qi's hatred for Zhao Hongrun accounted for two parts, then his hatred for the Ministry of Personnel probably accounted for the rest.
Eight points are not enough.
Perhaps after hearing Wen Qi's low curse, several officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs standing in the corridor immediately cast their gazes, staring at Zhao Hongrun and his group with unkind expressions.
Zhao Hongrun couldn't laugh or cry. You must know that his reputation in the Ministry of Personnel is already bad enough. Now that Wen Qi is added to the list, I believe the officials of the Ministry of Personnel will definitely put them on the list of least welcome objects, and they will be far ahead on the list.
However, Wei Jiao, the chief of the imperial clan, reminded Wen Qi: "Don't make enemies of His Highness for no reason."
Wen Qi was stunned for a moment, and then the hatred on his face subsided a lot, but with that gloating smile, Zhao Hongrun felt that he might be even more hated by the officials of the Ministry of Personnel.
Under the guidance of some soldiers and guards along the way, Zhao Hongrun came to the library of the Ministry of Officials.
Outside the warehouse, Xurong, the Qingzheng of Dali Temple, was looking thoughtfully at the rows of buildings in front of him.
"Master Xu."
Zhao Hongrun stepped forward to meet Xu Rong.
Perhaps because he hadn't slept all night, Xu Rong's complexion was not very good, and his eye sockets were somewhat sunken.
"Your Highness is here?... Hey, who is this?" Xu Rong noticed Wen Qi standing next to Zhao Hongrun.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun introduced: "This is the king's newly recruited disciple, Wen Qi."
"Wen Qi..." Xu Rong stroked his beard, and then said with a smile but not a smile: "Haha, it turns out it's the student Wen who became famous in this year's examination hall, Mr. Wen... I've admired him for a long time."
Wen Qi returned the gift awkwardly.
In fact, after he calmed down and thought about it carefully, he gradually felt that what he did at that time was a bit of a bastard - he was just a commoner going to take revenge on the imperial court? Good luck to him if he survived.
Seeing the embarrassment on Wen Qi's face, Zhao Hongrun changed the topic: "Master Xu, have you found any clues?"
Hearing this, the smile on Xu Rong's face gradually faded. After looking at Wen Qi, he whispered: "Your Highness, please take a step to speak."
Zhao Hongrun originally wanted to express his trust in Wen Qi, but after thinking about it carefully, he gave up.
Because this is not a relationship between trust and distrust, but the relationship between this case is too great. If it were in front of a stranger, the Dali Temple minister in front of him would not reveal it.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun said apologetically to Wen Qi: "Mr. Wen, please wait here."
Wen Qi was very calm. After all, he also knew himself: "Your Highness, please go."
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun took the Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao and followed Xu Rong to a deserted corner. At this time, he heard Xu Rong say in a low voice: "Your Highness, take a look at this."
As he spoke, he took out a book the size of two palms from his arms.
"This is?"
"The book in the Ministry of Personnel's Treasury. Whenever someone comes to look at the official register, they need to leave their name, as well as the time of their visit and return in this book. There is also a record of Zhou Shangshu."
"So, Zhou Shangshu was killed after leaving the Ministry of Civil Affairs?" Zhao Hongrun was a little confused.
At this moment, Xu Rong sneered, conjured an oil lamp from his sleeve like a magic trick, and lowered his voice and said: "Your Highness, take a closer look... It is impossible for Zhou Shangshu to leave the Ministry of Personnel until this moment."
After glancing at the oil lamp and then at the record in the record book regarding the time when Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, visited and returned, Zhao Hongrun's expression gradually became darker.
Because he had realized that the murderer - perhaps an accessory - had made a fatal oversight.